Committee on Legal Affairs

Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen denies rumours that this week parliament may vote on the much-debated civil union bill.

The Seimas approved on Thursday a package of amendments to the police law proposed by the Ministry of the Interior to integrate the Public Security Service (VST) into the Police Department.

MP Andrius Mazuronis, leader of the Labour Party, is in favour of creating the register of sexual offenders in Lithuania in order to safeguard families and children.

Ramūnas Karbauskis, chair of the opposition Farmers and Greens party (LVŽS), argues the Government has “not lifted a finger” to have a legal framework in place to tackle threats of child sexual abuse.

MP Petras Gražulis’ motion on the announcement of the date of a snap election may be included in Thursday’s agenda of the Seimas.

The amendments to the Law on Intelligence, proposed by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, would expand the powers of intelligence services but some of them might run counter to human rights and distort the essence of intelligence, lawyers and lawmakers who looked into the bill say.

The Ministry of Economy and Innovations has registered a legislative package, which specifies that the state could take land belonging to individuals if a large investor needs it. Seimas jurists note that this could clash with the Constitution.

The Seimas Legal Affairs Committee removed amendments proposed by Ramūnas Karbauskis on the child protection law, which were to be deliberated on Wednesday because according to the committee’s chairwoman Agnė Širinskienė, cabinet conclusions are pending, lrt.lt writes.

As Lithuania's Interior Minister Eimutis Misiūnas mulled on Thursday a possibility that Lithuania could recognize same-sex marriages, Agnė Širinskienė, chair of the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, says it's now impossible.

Lithuania's parliament on Tuesday rejected the conclusions of an ad hoc investigation commission on the public broadcaster LRT after 56 lawmakers voted in favor, 56 were against and three abstained.

The Lithuanian parliament is holding an extraordinary sitting on Tuesday after the opposition collected signatures for the Seimas to debate on the ruling bloc's actions.

After the Lithuanian parliament passes a resolution to hold a dual citizenship referendum, the Constitutional Court will be asked to assess whether the planned plebiscite is in line with the main law.

The Lithuanian parliament plans on Thursday to make a final decision on an overhaul of the model of public funding of political parties.

The chairwoman of the Lithuanian parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs says that the Seimas would probably breach the principle of equal treatment if it removed the election threshold for ethnic minority parties.

Viktoras Pranckietis, the speaker of the Seimas, says that a draft law granting amnesty to some prisoners will be improved to bring it into line with the Constitution.

A law enforcement investigation in Russia against law enforcement officers hearing the January 13 case in Lithuania is a desperate attempt to deny the tragic events, Agnė Širinskienė, chair of the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, says.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis says that he sees no sense in opening a probe regarding President Dalia Grybauskaitė's email exchanges with Eligijus Masiulis, a former Liberal Movement leader suspected in a major political corruption case.